What Is Donald Trump Rule 34? The Viral Bait Joke About Trump's Conviction Explained

After former United States president Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 felony charges in late May 2024, lots of people advised others to look up "Donald Trump Rule 34" to stay informed.

If you're well-versed in the "Rules of the Internet" and in internet culture in general, chances are you recognized the bait immediately. However if you did Google it and found this guide, we're glad that you clicked on this link first. Let us explain why.

What Is 'Rule 34'?

In the mid-2000s a humorous list of "Rules of the Internet" was compiled by the group Anonymous and posted to Encyclopedia Dramatica. The rules, which were generally agreed upon in a silent agreement but were not necessarily true, included 18 to 48 rules, not all of which survived to this day, with the most recognized being Rule 34 and Rule 63. The latter states that for every male character there is a female version of that character and vice versa, while the infamous Rule 34 says that if anything exists, there is porn of it, no exceptions.

Notably, the rule itself predates the list by a few years. It first appeared in a 2003 webcomic posted on the website Zoom-Out.

The Rule that says that there is pornography of every character was the idea behind the website of the same name that launched in the following years. And yes, the rule has obviously been applied to Donald Trump. Remember, no exceptions?

What Is 'Donald Trump Rule 34' Bait?

Soon after a jury found Donald Trump guilty of all 34 felony charges put against him, many people on the internet immediately saw the potential in the magic number. The hot topic obviously interested people, so there must be at least some poor soul who would fall for the bait and actually Googled "Donald Trump Rule 34."

Right now the top search result for the query is a pornography website page containing well over 30 illustrations of the former president engaging in sexual acts. To be fair, there's a news article about the conviction as well, so we can only hope they saved a few people from their risky clicks of the day.

For the full history of Rule 34, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.